


Boy Troubles

by rainbowtourmaline



Series: Tom, Steven and The Crystal Gems [2]
Category: Star vs. The Forces Of Evil, Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Bromance, Canon Gay Relationship, Coming Out, Epic Bromance, Epic Friendship, F/F, F/M, Gay Male Character, Gen, Jealous Marco Diaz, Jealousy, Love Confessions, M/M, Matchmaker Amethyst, Matchmaker Garnet, Matchmaker Pearl, Multi, Tom and Steven Bromance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-02
Updated: 2017-12-09
Packaged: 2018-08-12 15:54:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7940416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainbowtourmaline/pseuds/rainbowtourmaline
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“You’re going to hang out with Steven? Again?!” Marco asked.<br/>“Yeah… Got a problem with that?” Tom pet Squiggles to calm his nerves.<br/>“No, no it’s just uh… you’ve been spending a lot of time with Steven.” Marco said.<br/>“Well yeah, the dude’s pretty mellow and he’s got some retro video games.” Tom was also working up the courage to tell Steven something really important and personal, but Marco was the last person he was going to tell that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Epic Bromance of Tom and Steven

**Author's Note:**

> If you want to understand how Steven and Tom became friends, read the prequel to this fic - 'Girl Troubles.' If you don't care how Steven and Tom came to be friends, go on and read ahead my friend.

Tom was a bit reluctant to hang out with Pearl’s kid at first but as it turns out, Steven was pretty cool.

Tom liked him because he didn’t ask annoying questions about his horns or his three eyes.

He didn’t mock him for having a pet bunny. He actually thought Squiggles was a cool anger management tool and would sometimes steal him so he could cuddle and pet the rabbit.

And when Tom apologised profusely for nearly destroying Steven’s game console and setting his room on fire, he said it was no big deal and that he was proud of Tom for controlling his temper.

It was just like hanging out with Marco, only without the really awkward… feelings getting in the way of a good time.

“You’re going to hang out with Steven? Again?!” Marco asked.

“Yeah… Got a problem with that?” Tom pet Squiggles to calm his nerves.

“No, no it’s just uh… you’ve been spending a lot of time with Steven.” Marco said.

“Well yeah, the dude’s pretty mellow and he’s got some retro video games.” Tom was also working up the courage to tell Steven something really important and personal, but Marco was the last person he was going to tell that. “If Steven’s mums are okay with it, you should join us some time.”

“Yeah, I think I’ll pass.” Marco crossed his arms and looked in the other direction. “Video games uh, can rot the mind and stuff if you play them too much.”

“Fine.” Tom snapped, clutching onto Squiggles’ fur. “Me and Steven will have lots of fun with our mind rotting games without you!”

“Fine!”

“Fine!” Tom slammed the door to his carriage hard and started petting Squiggles. The little bunny made a sympathetic noise and Tom sighed. “I definitely need to talk to Steven.”   

* * *

 

“You’ve been spending a lot of time with Tom.” Connie said as she smashed the buttons on Steven’s controller. She was _this_ close to beating him. “Everything okay with you guys?”

“Yeah, we’re cool.” Steven said as he stuck his tongue out, going all out to beat Connie’s avatar in the game. “I just think Tom needs some extra chill time. He and his friend Marco have been really… on edge lately.”

“A fight?” Connie asked.

“Nope, something else. I just can’t put my finger on it though… A couple more friend therapy sessions and I’m sure he’ll tell Uncle Steven all about it.”

“You’re very confident.” Connie chuckled as she dodged an attack from Steven’s avatar.

“Yeah, well I’m a good friend.” Steven smirked.

“The best.” Connie blushed. “Although I hope Marco and Tom work out their problems soon because sometimes I miss it when it was just the two of us.”

“You don’t like Tom?!” Steven gasped, hardly believing it. And here he thought Tom and Connie really hit it off during one of their playful sparring matches!

“It’s not that. Tom is cool, once he mellows out.” Connie smiled. “I just like you best.”

When Steven just blinked at Connie, she leaned in and kissed him on the cheek for five beautiful seconds.

“Figure out what I mean.” She said when she broke the kiss and waved goodbye as Tom’s carriage came flying towards the window, leaving Steven in a loved up haze. The demon prince jumped in gracefully with Squiggles happy and unharmed in his arms. He gave Connie a smile and friendly wave as she left. “See ya later Tom, I gotta go meet my mum but I’ll spar with you later, right?”

“You know it sister!” he smirked. “Get ready to get your butt kicked again!”

Connie snickered. “We’ll just see about that tomorrow.”

Tom laughed until he saw Steven’s face.

“Hey, you okay man? Are you getting what is called a fever?” All three of Tom’s eyes blinked in confusion. “Pearl told me to get her next time that happened.”

“No…” Steven paused, touching the cheek where Connie kissed him. “I… think Connie likes me.”

“Of course she does dude, you’re great!” Tom grinned and patted him on the shoulder.

“No, I mean _likes_ me likes me. Like the way Sapphire and Ruby like each other and the way Dad and Pearl liked my mum before she became me. She kissed me on the cheek and everything.” Steven turned an even darker shade of red when Tom gave a delighted scream. He backed further onto the bed when Tom leaned in towards him. “What?”

“This is too good man!” Tom cried and shook Steven’s shoulders. “You’ve got to ask her on a date!”

“What? No, m-maybe I’m just overthinking things!” Steven said. “I’ve gotten these things wrong before. Remember that story I told you about Lars?”

“Pfft, Lars is a jerk Steven! You’re not Lars.” Tom pointed out flatly. “I’m a loser in love and even I can see Connie digs you. I turned on the charm up to 56.7 Degrees Celsius, but when our fight was over all she cared about were your sweet little compliments at the end. I don’t know much about human biology, but I know that if a human girl blushes in your presence it’s a good sign that she has a crush on you.”

“Gee, I don’t know Tom.” Steven shyly sighed. “I don’t want to make things awkward.”

“What’s awkward about it?” Tom laughed. “I mean it’s not like she’s the wrong gender and you’re the heir to the throne of hell! Making it impossible for you to pick the right partner that will live up to your parents’ expectations!”

Steven stared at Tom when all the colour in the demon prince’s horrified face disappeared.

They stood there in silence and stared at each other for what felt like five minutes before Tom quietly uttered the next few words.

“We are never to speak of my outburst ever again.”

“Y-Yeah of course! If that’s what you want, we don’t have to talk about what you just said ever again. Whatever it was.” Steven chuckled sympathetically and wrapped an arm around Tom. “But if you do want to talk about it with say, one of the gems, then it’s okay. Whatever you are feeling I’m sure they will understand and help you. Okay? There’s no need for you to be scared.”  

For good measure Steven gave Tom a reassuring pat on his right shoulder.

Like Tom said, Steven was pretty cool.

“The only thing I’m scared of is how badly you’re gonna get wrecked at Mario Kart!”

“Bring it on Tom!”

Tom did want to talk about… what he said with Steven and his mums. But after a couple of rounds on his game console.


	2. Coming Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tom sighed and closed his locker door, only to see Marco Diaz staring right at him. He nearly jumped and hid his fear with a snide
> 
> “What do you want?”
> 
> Tom is finally able to tell his big secret to someone.

Tom was getting ready to go see Steven after school and talk about… what he said last week. Steven didn’t pry or ask for details and Tom was sure he did not gossip about what happened to Connie, as Steven would bite on his bottom lip so hard and for so long he turned bright red at one point. Connie nearly performed mouth to mouth CPR on Steven and Tom was very tempted to let her to try and cement their romantic relationship, but then she’d ask what would compel him to stay silent until the point of suffocation.

Tom sighed and closed his locker door, only to see Marco Diaz staring right at him. He nearly jumped and hid his fear with a snide

“What do you want?”

They still weren’t talking after what happened last week.

“To say I’m sorry.”

Tom stared at Marco in silence. He hadn’t been expecting that.

“W-What for?” he shyly clung to his backpack.

“For acting like a jealous jerk.” Marco crossed his arms and leaned back onto the lockers, not looking Tom in the eye. “I should be happy you have a friend you can relax with and be yourself around. Lately, you’ve been kind of tense and stressed out around me so when I saw you had a friend who didn’t aggravate your anger problems, I got jealous.”

Tom gripped his backpack so hard that his knuckles nearly turned white. Marco didn’t make him angry or tense, just nervous because well… because of what he told Steven last week.

“I don’t know why you’ve been distancing yourself from me lately, but I want you to know that you can tell me what’s bothering you. Or we can just act like nothing happened and go back to hanging out and playing table tennis because… because…” Marco blushed and scratched the back of his neck.

“TELL HIM HOW YOU FEEL MARCO!” Tom snickered when he heard Star yelling and saw her peeping at them from the top of the lockers. He’d have been rolling on the floor laughing if he hadn’t expected Star to be spying on them.

“Star, go home!” Marco shouted at her and didn’t stop blushing until she left with an exasperated sigh. Marco looked at the floor and sighed.

“So are we… are we still friends?” Marco extended his hand.

“Yeah, we’re still friends.” Tom took Marco’s hand and shook it. “Table tennis on Friday sound good?”

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world!” Tom’s heart skipped a beat when he heard Marco say that and watched him happily stroll off home. Tom leaned back against the lockers and sighed dreamily.

“I’ve got it bad.”

* * *

“Steven, my favourite student hasn’t come over in a while, would you like to invite her to dinner?”

Steven choked on his juice.

“STEVEN!” Pearl gasped as Amethyst aggressively patted him on the back, as she once saw Greg do. Steven put his hand on Amethyst’s arm and shook his head, signalling that he was fine minus the bruises on his shoulder blades.

“It’s okay, I’m okay.” Steven coughed, trying to placate a panicked Pearl and a concerned Garnet and Amethyst. “The juice just went down the wrong pipe.”

“Well that’s a relief!” Pearl hugged him. “Connie wouldn’t be very happy with me if we let you die by choking!” Pearl chuckled and Steven gave a weak laugh response to her joke, which didn’t go unnoticed from Amethyst or Garnet. He felt himself squirming under their discerning gaze, until he heard a knock on the door. The demon prince of the underworld waved at Steven through the window, appearing to him as an angel sent from heaven.

“Oh, it’s Tom! I’ll go get Tom!” Steven cried a little too loudly for Amethyst and Garnet. The two gems smirked at each other as if they were in on some little secret. “Hey buddy, how’s it going?”

The demon scratched the back of his neck and gave a nervous laugh, not quite looking at Steven or the Crystal Gems in the eye as he followed Steven into the kitchen. Tom cleared his throat.

“I’m okay. I guess.” he said. “Actually, there’s something I really want to tell you all.”

Tom liked the Crystal Gems. They were cool warrior women from space and they loved freely among their own kind. They weren’t held back by their society's rules and regulations because they took part in a war to rid themselves of an oppressive authority who would crush them all given the chance. Tom idolised them in every way possible and he couldn’t help but gush about how cool they were to Steven when they left the room.

Tom knew all this but his palms were sweating, his purple skin was turning an unhealthy pale colour and his teeth were gnashing in a way that probably would have made any dentist start an intervention to protect Tom’s poor teeth. Tom also couldn’t get rid of the sinking feeling in stomach at the very thought of being rejected by the Crystal Gems.

“What is it Tom?” Pearl smiled at him from behind the kitchen counter, looking like one of those old fashioned mums from the 50's. Her aura positively screamed ‘maternal’ and it reminded Tom of the way she looked at him when he was sitting on that beach alone and heartbroken.

“Is it that Pearl’s cooking sucks? We know that already.” Amethyst smirked when Pearl placed her hands on her hips and glared at her, while Garnet put both hands on the little purple gem’s shoulders.

“Now, now Amethyst, Tom is being serious.” Garnet smiled at Tom and he felt the same protective and caring aura he got from Pearl. “Please continue Tom.”

A bead of sweat poured from Tom’s forehead and he felt really hot and not the good kind of hot whenever Marco looked at him, the sickly burning feeling he got when he thought that maybe he could tell his parents about what he was feeling.

Tom instantly cooled down when he felt Steven’s hand wrapped around his.

“I’m gay.”

Time stopped for Tom in that moment.

“I like girls and sometimes I still want to date them and hold their hand and stuff, but lately I’ve been really wanting to date this boy I know back at this human school I am attending.”

Tom took a deep breath.

“He’s so sweet and kind and we have a lot of fun together and he makes me wanna be better, you know? And there are times I think I wouldn’t mind him dating my ex because if it’s what makes him happy, then I’d try to be happy for him? Even if the thought of him dating anyone else makes me sick to my stomach and I HATE it, WHY IS HAVING THESE FEELINGS SO COMPLICATED AND SCARY?”

Everyone was silent and watched as he took this moment to finally exhale.

Garnet let go of Amethyst to slowly approach Tom and put her hands on his shoulders. She had the most serious and stoic face he had ever seen her wear.

“What you are feeling is normal.” Before her face broke out into a toothy grin.

Tom nearly had a heart attack.

“YOU IS GAY BRO!” He could hear Amethyst shout before she lunged at him to join the group hug from his right ride. Steven, who was still holding his hand from his left side joined the group hug. Pearl clasped her hands together and said “I am so proud!” before she completed the huddle.

“Welcome to the gay club!” Amethyst looked her chubby and pink son. “And Steven!”

“Tom? Tom?! Are you okay?” Steven was alarmed when tears started to form in his eyes. He was so happy that he felt like his heart was going to burst.

“I’m fine.” He said, holding back the water works. “I’m cool bro, yeah. Just great.”

He really was.

For the first time in a long time, he felt okay.

“To celebrate this, I’m going to make Tom’s favourite dish, spicy chicken curry with extra chilli!” Tom knew that Pearl hated food, especially curry, so that was when he gave himself permission to shed a tear. He was so happy he met this nice gem on that beach. “With a sweet and sour side for Steven.”

“I can handle spicy curry!” Steven lied.

“Tell that to the toilet.” Amethyst chuckled.

“It’s all right Steven, I prefer the sweet and sour curry too.” Garnet ruffled his curly hair. “Now you and Tom go help set the table.”

Everyone broke apart to go make the arrangements for tea time, before Tom wiped his eyes with his free arm.

“You sure you’re all right Tom?” Steven said and didn’t let go of Tom’s hand.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine.”

* * *

 

“So Tom.” Pearl smirked at him from across the table. “Who is the lucky boy?”

Tom didn’t put his next spoonful of curry into his mouth as Steven’s mums all smirked at him and waited patiently for his answer. He turned to look at Steven who was shaking his head and frowning.

Tom guessed this was why Steven hadn’t told the Gems about his kiss with Connie.  


	3. Choices, Choices

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tom thinks about whether he wants Marco to know how he truly feels.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! Sorry for not updating this fic since September last year but I was crazy busy with work and ran out of inspiration! However, I now have an idea of what direction this story will be heading so now you can expect somewhat regular updates. 
> 
> And also, amedot is going to be an official new ship for this fanfic. Initially I wanted to keep other ships out of this fanfic as much as possible to keep it Tom/Marco and Steven/Connie focused BUT amedot really helped me flesh out certain scenes, so I thought I would make it canon in this series. As the fic progresses, I'll let you guys know if I include anymore ships and will give ample warning. 
> 
> Thank you for reading!

“So what will be our first line of attack?” Amethyst smirked at the other Crystal Gems who were huddled together in the kitchen. Garnet adjusted her shades.

“We get them alone together. Preferably in a secluded but romantic setting.” she said. “Fusion is unfortunately not an option for Tom or Marco, but just because they’re gems does not mean that they can’t enjoy dancing.”  

“With Tom serenading Marco as a prelude?” Pearl added.

“Oh, you know it.” The gems snickered.

“This may be a little left field, but what about getting Tom to rescue Marco from danger? Maybe by pushing him out of harm’s way and ‘accidentally’ landing on top of him? In the early relationship stage that certainly worked for me.” Amethyst waggled her eyebrows.

“Amethyst!” Pearl tutted. “They’re 14!”

“That don’t mean that they don’t feel things!”

“We’ll put a pin on that idea and talk about it again if we need to… bring them closer together.”

“GARNET!”

“Ooooh yeahhhhhh!”

Steven and Tom just sat there at the dining table staring at the gems as they plotted, quietly dreading the results of their thought-out but potentially disastrous plans.

“Um, guys?” Steven interjected as Pearl shook her head at Amethyst’s fist pumping. “I know you all have Tom’s best interests at heart and that you’re happy he shared a part of himself with you, but maybe we shouldn’t be making plans for Tom to confess to Marco until Tom is okay with it?”

The demon in question could have _kissed_ Steven right then and there out of pure gratitude, but he didn’t want his mums to get the wrong idea or, heaven forbid, try to set them up!  

“Yes! Thank you, Steven!” he chuckled, wiping the nervous sweat from his bro. “And besides, I’ve already serenaded Marco!”

Tom could tell that he said the wrong thing when the gems gasped and emerged from their plotting corner to hound Tom for details.

“When and where did this happen?!”

“What song lyrics did you use?”

“Was there any dancing? Did you respect each other’s boundaries?”

“Did you make him feel ‘big’ after a fight?”

Never mind, Tom’s nervous sweating came back with a vengeance!

“Guys! No! It’s not what you think!” Steven butted in.

“Ohohohohoho, but serenading is _always_ what we think it is!” Pearl chortled before she blushed and realised who she was talking to. “I mean, you will understand the significance of serenading when you are older and more mature Steven.”  

“No Pearl, he’s right.” Tom sighed and explained. “I sang Marco his second favourite Love Sentence song because I… I hurt him bad. I wanted to show Marco that I was sorry for making him think that I hated him. We barely made up after that fight and I’m just glad he and I are friends.”

Tom wrapped his arms around his body and looked at the ground.

“I don’t want to risk losing him again.”  

 Pearl frowned and put her arm around Tom and placed her other hand on his heart.

“Do you really think Marco wouldn’t like this part of you?” she asked in a gentle voice.

Tom looked at Steven and the other boy smiled at him. Tom took a deep breath and said: “Maybe.”

“But what if he DID like that part of you? What if it was something you two had in common?!” Amethyst helpfully suggested. “Would you still not want to tell him how you feel then?”

Tom’s cheeks turning a dark shade of purple gave Amethyst her answer.

“Don’t make me laugh! Marco is straight! And even if he wasn’t he would deserve someone way cooler than me!” he cried.

“You may feel that way Tom, but the heart wants what the heart wants.” Garnet grinned and removed her shades to look Tom in the eye. “But you won’t know what Marco’s heart wants if you don’t find out.”

Tom was quiet for a few seconds, before he came at them with a snappy comeback and threw his arms in the air: “Well if my parents find out that their son and heir to the throne wants to make a human boy their new queen, then perhaps it’s better if I don’t know what Marco wants at all because it’s not like I can do anything about it anyway!”

“They don’t have to know about Marco.” Amethyst chimed in. “Just sneak around behind their backs.”

“Forever?!” Tom wasn’t seriously expecting an answer, but Amethyst replied: “Yeah! That or give up the throne and run away with him! It’s your choice!”

Tom blinked at Steven and looked to him for help.

“Don’t look at me Tom!” Steven raised his hands in surrender and shook his head. “The gems are experienced rulebreakers, they’re not going to give you a solution that doesn’t make waves.” This unwanted response made Tom groan, which prompted Garnet to put her arm around him too.

“We will support whatever decision you make Tom.” Garnet said, patting him on the shoulder. “But Steven is right. Sometimes, to be who we are or be with the people we care about we must be willing to make sacrifices. Whether you want to make any sacrifices or which ones you decide to make will be up to you. Please take time to think it over.”

Tom got a heavy feeling in his chest when Garnet imparted these words of wisdom to him because he knew what Garnet was talking about. She had told him and Steven about Ruby and Sapphire’s story at their request so many times that he could recite it off by heart, so he knew that Garnet was speaking from experience. He knew Garnet had made her choice and had made peace with it.

He took her hand and squeezed it.

 “Thank you. I will.”  

 

* * *

 

“The throne or Marco… The throne or Marco… The throne or Marco…” Tom had been mumbling this sentence to himself as he walked the halls of his high school, as he hadn’t stopped thinking about The Crystal Gems said to him. Could he really give up his throne? Could he really hide a relationship from his parents? Would Marco really accept him for who he was? There were so many possibilities swimming around in his head that it made him dizzy. It did not feel good.

Though, the sick feeling his stomach when he saw Marco talking to his ex-girlfriend felt a hundred times worse.

“See you there Marco!” Jackie Lynne-Thomas waved at the smiling boy as she skated past Tom. “Hopefully I’ll see you there too Tom!”

“Hahaha, you bet!” Tom bared his teeth at her in a way that he hoped was friendly and not strained-looking or jealous because BOY was he having a hard time keep it together right now. He strolled up to Marco, counting down from ten as he asked “What is she talking about?”

“Birthday party.” Marco explained, that goofy grin never leaving his face. “She’s turning 15 next week, so she’s throwing an awesome shindig to celebrate. She told me to invite you too.”

Tom was too distracted to enjoy the feeling of Marco’s hand brushing against his own as he slipped him his invitation.

“Won’t be that be… awkward considering you two used to… you know…” Tom reluctantly uttered the next word. “Date?”

“What?” Tom wanted to die at how carefree and light his laugh was. “No way man, it’s cool. We broke up on good terms.”

This was true, Marco and Jackie break up on good terms, but only because he didn’t want to endanger Jackie while he and Star were fighting the forces of evil. It’s not like they broke up because they didn’t want to be together anymore and that is what made the gleam in Marco’s eyes seem so frightening.

“Plus, I think this party will be a good way for you to make friends and widen your social circle a little.” Marco hooked his arm around Tom’s shoulder. “You love parties and could rival Star in the Social Butterfly Olympics, so let’s give it a shot! And who knows…”

Marco waggled his eyebrows in a way that made Tom want to melt.

“You and I might find some girlfriends!”

Tom could have literally set the entire school on fire while screaming at the top of his lungs, but he had come so far in his anger management and to be quite honest he didn’t want to throw back all the love and support he had gotten from Steven and Marco back into their faces by doing something so incredibly stupid and nasty over one innocent and well-intended comment. He really, really couldn’t have taken the disappointed looks on their faces and he already hated himself, he didn’t need to make himself feel worse.

“Heh, yeah….” Tom gave a weak snicker. “That would totally make Star jealous.”

Marco rolled his eyes.

“Or you could find your soulmate and forget all about dating Star! I’m sure Steven and Connie would be happy to be your wingman and woman! In fact, didn’t you say something about Connie being really, really cute?”

Yeah, Tom would totally date Connie as she was totally his type and _gorgeous_ , but there was one problem. _‘I’m only interested in you, you darn temptress!’_

“I… I’d prefer going as a group. I really want you and Star to meet them.” Tom said softly as he looked into Marco’s big brown eyes. He must have looked like a lost puppy as Marco gave him the biggest grin before wrapping his arms around him.

“Aww, too shy to ask her out yourself huh! You’re so cute!”

“I will literally set you on fire.” Tom resisted the urge to bury his purple face into Marco’s neck. “Connie and I are just friends.” _And she’s totally into Steven._

“Sure.” Marco grinned before letting him go. “If you feel up to it, why not invite them to Friday’s ping pong session? It’d be cool if we chill-hanged before the big party!”

Tom quirked an eyebrow at him.

“And I promise I won’t get jealous and try to pry about what goes on during your chill sessions.” Marco assured him. This was enough to get Tom to agree.

“Okay…” Tom said. “That’s good because there’s no reason for you to be jealous of Steven. No reason whatsoever.”

“I know man.” Marco opened his arms wide for another hug and Tom took gladly took the invitation. It felt good to have his best friend back, complicated feelings be damned.

Until saxophone music started to play…

 _“I’m never gonna dance again, guilty feet have got no rhythm! Though it’s easy to pretend, I know you’re not a fool!”_ Janna was standing behind Tom and Marco playing the sax, while Star gave a dramatic rendition of the dearly departed George Michael’s ‘Careless Whisper.’  

“STAR BUTTERFLY, CUT THAT OUT RIGHT NOW!” Marco shouted in a father-like voice as Star and Janna ran for their lives. “Sigh, I’ll see you on Friday Tom! And I’ll try to make sure Star is on her best behaviour!”

“See you both then Marco!” Tom did some his finger guns while Marco ran in his other best friend’s direction. He kept he cheesy but fake grin on his face until Marco was out of sight and sighed, removing his phone from his pants pocket before dialling Steven’s number. He felt relief when the other dude picked up. “Hey Steven, it’s Tom. I had a think about what Garnet said and I think I know what I want to do.”  


	4. WHAT A TWIST!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven and Tom go to Friday Ping Pong night dressed to impress - but things don't go as planned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, happy holidays! I hope you're enjoying the festive season, I know I am! 
> 
> Second of all, I am super sorry I haven't updated this fanfic since February. Real life stuff got in the way and during the hiatus I struggled to find inspiration, especially with the new plot elements that have been introduced to the newer Star vs. The Forces of Evil episodes as I had to figure out how to write around the new information we've gotten (you'll know what I'm talking about if you're caught up with the show - Thank goodness I didn't update this before Club Snubbed aired). 
> 
> However, I've come back to this story feeling refreshed and with a better idea of how I'm going to finish this story. Thanks for your patience and I hope you'll stay tuned!

When Tom told Steven what he wanted to do, a rush of courage and determination filled him to the brim – and this was how they came to be in front of Steven’s bathroom mirror on a Friday night.

“Uh Tom… Should you put that much hair gel on for a ping pong match?”

“What?” Tom quirked an eyebrow. “Too much?”

“Just a bit.” Steven snickered. “It’s not like we’re going on a double date.”

“Then maybe you shouldn’t put on so much cologne.” Tom smirked.

“Dad says that a manly musk is a way to a girl’s heart.” Steven puffed up his chest with pride, as his fear of answering Connie’s confession had vanished when Tom called him.

“Or to poison her.” Tom said. “Here, I’ll let you borrow my cologne. Connie likes figs so this Italian perfume should be right up her street.”

Steven’s surprised and impressed starry-eyed look turned into a smug, tooth showing grin.

“Does Marco like figs too?”

Tom blushed, slammed the perfume back onto Steven’s counter and stared at the mirror to avoid Steven’s gaze. He scratched the back of his neck and looked down at the floor.

“I guess…”

“That means it’s his favourite sweet snack, doesn’t it?” Steven cheekily waggled his eyebrows.

“Step off Steven.” Tom laughed and playfully shoved his shoulder. “At least I’m trying to be subtle, the first thing you picked out of the closet was your fanciest suit.”

“First of all,” Steven said, hands on his hips “Nothing will be more obvious than that slicked back hairdo.”

Tom scoffed, “You’re just jealous that you could never pull this off Steven.”

“Yeah?” Steven smirked. “Well if that’s true, then do the do to my luscious locks Tom Lucitor!”

Tom returned the smirk and raised his comb. “Just remember you asked for it.”

* * *

 

With a brand new look that would make James Bond envious, Steven and Tom spent 10 whole minutes standing outside Marco’s house, staring up at it from the cold and empty drive way.

“Why are we standing out here?” Steven asked, nervously eyeing the deserted landscape to distract himself from his worries. “Won’t we make a bad impression?” 

“Nope.” Tom said. “In teen human culture, it’s always better to be fashionably late. Turning up on time makes it look like you care too much, not caring is cooler.”

Steven huffed and crossed his arms.

“I think caring is cool.”

“Okay, then go right in.” Steven stared at Tom, then stared at the ground and scratched the pavement with his heel.

“You first.”

“Ugh, we’re gonna totally blow this if we’re both nervous.” Tom sighed and ran his palms through his hair in frustration.

“Maybe if we held hands, we’d feel better?” Steven asked with puppy dog eyes. Tom stared at Steven, mulling over his suggestion. When Tom offered to hold Steven’s hand that one time they went into that Haunted House, it made Steven feel much better about the ordeal and they had a great time. Maybe this would have the same effect.

“Let’s do it!”

Both boys grinned and stepped towards the front door, before realising something.

“Wait…” Tom paused. “If we both go in there holding hands, won’t it give Connie and Marco the wrong impression?”

“Ha! No.” Steven shook his head. “Holding hands can be a sign of friendship as well as romantic interest! Marco will see us and will think: man, I wish I was dating such a cool and caring friend!”

Tom was unconvinced and he was about to say so, before the universe saw fit to punish him by having his ex-girlfriend slam the door open and catch them red-handed.

“GUYS GUYS GUYS GUYS – TOM IS HERE WITH…” Star’s jaw dropped at the sight of Steven and Tom’s interlocked palms. “Ooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

“No, NO! IT’S NOT WHAT YOU THINK STAR!” Even though Tom screamed, he still didn’t let go of a blushing Steven’s hand. He remembered the last time he snatched his hand away from Steven because he was embarrassed, and the other dude nearly cried for a whole hour. He did not need his wingman in tears right now! “THIS IS PLATONIC HANDHOLDING! PLATONIC!”

 _“I’m never gonna dance again! Guilty feet I’ve got no rhythm! Though it’s easy to pretend, I know you’re not a fool…”_ Janna sang in dulcet tones behind Star, performing the sweet medley on a guitar. Tom wanted to take the instrument and smash it over the pavement but the only thing that was stopping him was Steven’s hand in his palm and the sight of Marco –

Marco staring at him holding Steven’s hand, after Tom had told him there was no reason for him to be jealous of Steven.

Tom hated his life.  

“Whoa…” Marco started, his face blank of emotion that made Tom want to set himself on fire. “I… Didn’t know you guys… Well, I didn’t know you and Steven were-”

The small pauses and the way he was hesitating was literally crushing Tom’s heart with every second.

“Marco!” Tom finally let go of Steven’s hand, thinking Steven would forgive him given the circumstances, and trying his best to ignore the nervous sweat beating down his brow and his desire to burn down Marco’s home so he would have an excuse to run away and hide forever. “It really isn’t what you think it is.”

“I certainly hope not!” Tom wanted to scream a particularly bad word beginning with f but given the last time he accidentally taught Steven a swear word, he knew better than to try to corrupt the other boy’s innocence unless he wanted to get a strongly worded lecture from Pearl.

Tom made a stark contrast with Steven as the life was being sucked out of him, while the half gemling stood there with stars in his eyes at the sight of Connie waltzing up the driveway in a pretty blue dress Tom suspected Star put in her grasp through magical mail order (it wouldn’t be the first time she’s done something like that).

“Connie!” Steven cried out happily, until she put her hands on her hips and shouted:  

“Don’t Connie me! I confessed to you the other day and then I see you holding hands with Tom? Tom of all people! A hot mess who is in love with someone else?!”

“Oh my gosh Connie is spilling the tea!” Star squealed excitedly, pulling on Janna’s sleeve and jumping up and down, while Janna side-eyed Star’s use of human colloquialisms she had most likely learned from the internet. “She’s spilling it so good!”  

“Tom is in love?!” Marco gasped, making Tom’s cheeks burn bright red.

“Connie please, you’re humiliating me!” Tom approached the girl against his better judgement and was ready to get down on his knees to plead his case until Connie upped the ante. 

“Oh, I’ll humiliate you all right! In a ping pong death match!”

Given how much of a sore winner Tom had been in the past, the party received this well.

“AYYYYYYYEEEEE! ALL RIGHT!” Star whooped. “I’ve only known Connie for 5 minutes but I already love her!”

“Hey!” Janna protests.

“Easy babe, I mean it in a totally platonic way.” Star says. “Although if she and I were both single…”

“That’s it, I’m dating Marco again.”

“Babe, no!” Star cried as she ran off after Janna. “Babe!”

“If anyone cares, I’m going to make guacamole.” When Marco huffed and was ready to flounce his way to the kitchen in his cute, pink ballet shoes – Tom knew that he screwed up. Unfortunately, Steven was unable to read the mood coming from Marco:

“Hey that sounds awesome, do you want any help-”

“No thank you!” Marco cried, and would have most assuredly flipped his hair in Steven’s face if it went past his ears. Steven glared after the love of Tom’s life and muttered:

“I will support whatever choice you make about your love life because it’s your life – but your crush is a huge jerk.” Steven muttered. Tom put his arm around the other boy and said:

“I’m so sorry Steven, Marco is a lot nicer when he doesn’t have to find out I am in love from someone else!” Tom hissed at her. Connie snorted: 

“Maybe if you had the guts to actually tell him how you felt, you wouldn’t have to steal other people’s boyfriends!”

Steven’s mouth formed a tiny ‘o’ in shock and his cheeks turned a rosy red colour that reminded Tom of the old gem battle field that was littered with strawberries in Steven’s home town. It brought a lot of colour to Steven’s palette even though the boy was bathed in soft blue moonlight.

“Boyfriend?” He shyly asked, hands holding his own cheeks.

Connie’s own cheeks turned a dark, embarrassed colour when she realised what she had said.

“I mean- That is… I…” she growled in frustration. “Tom, you’re going down!”

Tom’s last hope of getting out of this without making a scene crash and fell when Connie stormed inside the house.

“Well… I hope you’re happy that your love life is going well Steven!” Tom hissed once she was out of reach.

“Very.” Steven sighed dreamily as he watched the way Connie’s hair and the frills on her dress bounced in the wind – looking like a fierce moon warrior about to do battle for the boy she loved.  

* * *

 

Connie brutally slaughtered Tom. The poor purple demon laid there on the floor and was barely keeping himself up with the help of Marco’s ping pong table, having been thoroughly exhausted by the demon in human form! Tom didn’t know if it was the sword training Connie received from Pearl or the pure rage of having someone else compete for Steven’s affections, but Tom would learn to never ever hold Steven’s hand no matter how much the other boy would beg or cry.

One thing was for sure though, Tom suspected that Connie wasn’t human. She must have had some demon blood in her because for pete’s sake, not even Marco could keep up with him on a good day and the training Sir Lavabo was giving him made him faster and stronger than ever!  

“Oh my gosh Connie – you were amazing!” Tom groaned pitifully when his so-called friend ignored his cries of anguish to gush over his crush, after the girls had congratulated her for her victory. It made Tom sick! “You’re always amazing…”

Connie smiled and shyly brushed back a strand of her hair behind her ear.

“Thanks Steven. I was starting to wonder if you still liked me…”

“Yeah…” Steven scratched the back of his head in shame. “I’m sorry for not texting back and avoiding you at sword practice. It’s just that when you kissed me on the cheek, my brain kind of shut down… In a good way. I needed time to get my thoughts together and then I realised that…”

Steven blushed when Connie started giggling behind her hand, it was contagious so Steven didn’t get a chance to finish the thought.

“I accept your apology.” The pair shared a sweet smile that made Tom want to vomit. “Wanna go play a card game with the others?”

“Yeah.” Steven said, reaching for Connie’s hand. “I’d like that.”

Tom glared at the happy young couple as they walked off together holding hands without him.

“I’m still here guys!” Tom yelled, feeling sorry for himself in the empty living room of Marco’s house. “Not that anyone cares…”

A cool glass of orange juice was shoved in front of his face to prove him wrong. Tom hated the universe for always contradicting him.

“So I’m a nobody now, huh?”

“Marco! Oh sweet, wonderful Marco!” Tom snatched the source of hydration and happiness from Marcos clutches and glugged down the sweet nectar as if he had just finished a desert trek. “You’re my only true friend.”

“Am I now?” Marco smirked as he slid under ping pong table to hang out with Tom. “Even though I was the last person to find out that you already got a crush on someone?”

Tom stopped mid-glug at the amused but hurt tone of Marco’s voice.

Tom shyly glanced at Marco, whose arms were crossed and whose eyes were broodily gazing at Star shouting “Go Fish!” as the others groaned and Janna shouted: “That’s not how you win the game babe!” in the distance.

The demon prince gently put down the glass of orange juice on the floor and sighed.

“I’m sorry for keeping secrets from you. And for making you feel like I trust Steven and Connie more than I trust you.” Tom frowned and looked at the floor. “But the thought of telling you about the person I have a crush on absolutely terrifies me and the only reason I felt comfortable telling Steven is because… Well, Steven’s family have been in a similar situation to mine.”

Tom hoped Marco would never meet Steven’s family because goodness gracious they would not be able to hide the fact that they’re gay, especially Garnet – who once outed herself in front of Homeworld informants because Sapphire and Ruby couldn’t stop flirting!   

Marco tore his gaze from the card game happening outside to look at Tom. Marco moved closer beside Tom so his warmth could spread to the other demon boy… it felt really nice and Tom prayed Marco wouldn’t notice how hot we was getting.

“I don’t know who you got a crush on or why you think they would make me mad at you, but I couldn’t hate you over something like that dude.” Marco smiled and gently reached for Tom’s hand, squeezing the demon prince’s hand to quietly reassure him that it would take a lot for him to scare him off, and he had been frightened by a lot since he befriended Star. “You’re one of my best friends Tom and as long as this person doesn’t hurt you, I will support your relationships.”

Tom sat there silently for a long time, trying to hold back the ugly tears that would always ruin his cool and calm persona whenever something this emotional came up, but he did eventually allow himself to squeak out a: “Thanks Marco.”

“Any time.” Marco said, pretending not to notice Tom crying. “And if you want me to be your wingman for this mystery crush you just say the word and I’ll come up with a plan.”

“Thanks buddy.” Tom sniffed back some tears and smiled for the first time that night. “You’re a real pal.”

“On the condition that you tell me who the mystery crush is!”

Curse Marco Diaz in all seven hells!

“Ouch! Hey calm down, I was joking!” Marco cried as he took his hand away from Tom’s, which was sizzling with anger and frustration.

“Sorry, sorry!” Tom’s eyes went from fiery red back to dark pink when he took Marco’s hand to look at it, white hot rage replaced with tender love and care. “Are you okay? Here, let me get you some ice!”

If Tom had raised his head to look at Marco, he’d have seen Marco blushing, but the universe decided that now would not be the time to lay Tom’s fears to rest. Because what would be the fun of ending the drama so quickly?

“Here you go, hold this.” Tom got Marco to grip some ice in his hand. “I found it in your fridge. It’s cool how you humans have learned to keep things cold like that without the help of magic.”

“Wow, maybe I should pass on my ‘Safety Kid’ title to you Tom.” Marco smirked, not noticing how Tom kept his hand still clutched around Marco’s far longer than necessary.   

“Seriously? As if the heir the underworld has time to spend all day taking care of you Marco!” Tom giggled when Marco lightly hit him on the forearmed and joined him back under the Ping-Pong table. “Sigh… Sometimes I wish all we could do is hang out.”

“Yeah, then you could take me as your third wheel on your dates with your secret crush.” Marco chuckled, relaxing against the table.

Tom quietly stared at Marco.

“Do you… really want to know who the mystery crush is?”

“Of course Tom!” Marco said. “What kind of friend would I be if I didn’t want to meet the love of your life?”

Tom bit his bottom lip, mulling over what Garnet told him when he came out to her:

‘Sometimes, to be who we are or be with the people we care about we must be willing to make sacrifices. Whether you want to make any sacrifices or which ones you decide to make will be up to you.’

Tom took a deep breath and made his choice. There was no point in deciding whether he would choose between his kingdom or Marco unless he truly knew how the other boy felt about him.

“Marco, I’ll make a deal with you.” Tom’s dark pink eyes stared into beautiful, surprised brown ones and grabbed Marco by the shoulders. “I’ll tell you who the mystery crush is if you tell me something personal about you at Jackie’s birthday party. Something that you would be scared to tell other people because you’re worried that they might reject or hate you if they found out. If you can do that, I can tell you who the mystery crush is.”

Marco sat still – taking the same amount of time Tom had taken to think about whether he would confess to the human boy or not. Marco sat there sweating, Tom could feel his pulse racing under his hands but one second later – it seemed as if Marco had made a life altering choice too.

“You drive a hard bargain man, but I’ll do it if you will.”

Tom grinned ear to ear. “That settles it then.”

This was it.

The date had been set. 

* * *

 

“And then Ruby and Sapphire fused into Garnet and became my Square Mum.”

“What a romantic story about girls loving girls.” Star sighed as she stared wistfully at Steven across the table – summarising how all her circle of friends at the table felt after listening to such a beautiful story. “You should write a book or something on it – with cute illustrations!”

“Oh, I don’t know.” Steven flushed.

“No, you really should!” Star said and the other guests nodded along with her. “On Mewni ladies loving ladies is only accepted if it’s kept a secret from ‘polite’ society because they think it would ‘corrupt’ the kids. But you Steven are the sweetest little cinnamon roll I have ever met!”

“Whoa, careful Star, you might get your butt kicked at table tennis if you’re not careful about what you say about The Universe here.” Janna snickered, leading the herd to titter at the joke and Ponyhead to scream ‘DRAMA!’ in the background.  

Connie’s cheeks turned red.

“I only panicked because Steven hadn’t been returning my texts, okay?” Connie sipped her drink and looked away in embarrassment. “Where’s Tom anyway? I feel kind of bad about how I treated him…”

“It’s okay, we all make mistakes.” Steven patted Connie’s hand. “At least you didn’t blurt out that he likes boys. Though I can’t see why he’s scared of coming out, you guys are so supportive of Star and Janna…”

Connie chocked on her drink and Steven became so pale one could have mistaken him for a ghost. When the whole table became quiet, he started screaming “Ahhhhhhhh, what have I done?! What have I done?! WHAT HAVE I DONE?!”

Janna chuckled and patted Steven on the head, before refreshing his drink.

“Chill dude, it’s cool. We all know Tom is gay for Marco.”

“THE GAYEST!” Ponyhead cried. “That boy puts the late George Michael to shame with how gay he is for Turdina – may that beautiful man rest in peace!”

“I always wondered why he didn’t try to make Marco into a kebab, but when we went to the movies together I felt like a third wheel.” Prince Larry Kelpbottom helpfully chimed in as he smugly sipped his soda. “Plus he always greases up his hair when he’s trying too hard to impress someone.”

“Oh thank goodness…” Steven sighed in relief before he realised the implications of what Tom’s friends were saying. “WHAT?!!!”

“But if you know Tom is gay, then why is he so stressed out about other people finding out?” Connie asked, genuinely concerned for her friend’s wellbeing.

“Well…” Star grimaced. “Tom doesn’t know that we know he’s bisexual… or pan. And whenever I tried to talk about it he would run away, throw a temper tantrum or flat out deny that he likes boys _and_ girls.”

“That… sounds like Tom.” Connie groaned and slammed her forehead onto the table.

“But…” Steven hesitated. “If you guys know Tom is gay, then does that mean Marco…”

“Knows that Tom is head over heels for him?” Janna smirked. “Not a chance. Why do you think we’ve been singing Careless Whisper every time they’re about to get really gay? They’re really oblivious.”

“Yeah, I’m not sure singing about forbidden love would be really helpful to a dude who’s discovering his sexuality.”

“Shhh Larry, you’re here to be beautiful, not offer criticism.” Ponyhead shushed him.

Steven watched worriedly as Tom held Marco’s hand through the window into the Diaz’s living room.

“Are… Tom’s parents okay with him not being straight?”

“Totally!” Star beamed, patting Steven on the shoulder. “In fact, they’re the ones who told us about it.”  

“…What?” Steven said.

“Oh, yeah. Uh – Tom’s ex-therapist Brian kind of blabbed that Tom had asked a ‘hypothetical’ question about his ‘friend’ being gay. It wasn’t subtle enough to pass Brian’s notice and when he spread the word to Tom’s mum and dad they were not happy that he broke the patient confidentiality whatcha’mackolit.”

“Patient confidentiality agreement?” Connie blinked.

“That’s the one.” Star chuckled and nuzzled Steven. “She’s a keeper dude.”

“So what you’re saying is… Tom’s parents know that he likes dudes?” Steven sat there with his mouth so wide-open Pearl would have chastised him if she were there.

“Yeah.” Star confirmed.

“And they’re okay with it?”

“Yeah.” Star said.

“THEN WHY HAVEN’T YOU TOLD HIM?!” Steven screeched. “HE’S BEEN FREAKING OUT ABOUT IT FOR WEEKS, POSSIBLY EVEN LONGER!”

“Shhhh Stevon – the love birds are gonna hear us!”

“Sorry Ponyhead.” Steven whispered as he covered his mouth – but shook his head when the fear of outing his friend to his crush had passed. “But this is ridiculous! Why hasn’t anyone talked to him? He has a right to know all this information.”

“Hey, hey, hey!” Star gently got up from her seat to pat Steven on the shoulder. “I totally see where you’re coming from – I totally hate it when friends and family keep secrets from me too. But after being friends with the guy, can you really blame us for wanting to let Tom discover how he truly feels by himself?”

“She’s got a point Steven.” Connie grinned sheepishly, wrapping a comforting arm around Steven’s shoulder as his brow creased in concentration and frustration. On the one hand, Tom was a lot more vulnerable than others would give him credit for and needed unconditional love and support. On the other hand, Tom was also probably the most stubborn demon he had ever met and it took a really long time to change his mind about something once his mind was set on it. A key example being Marco – who he hated with a passion until he started to get the other boy better.  

“W-well we can’t just sit around here and do nothing! We’ve got to help him!”

“Pfft, why do you think we asked Jackie to have a birthday party?” Janna asked.

“… I don’t understand.” Steven ran his hands through his hair and sighed.

“Steven.” Connie said. “I think it’s time we asked the Crystal Gems to get involved… _without_ Tom’s permission this time.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now before someone says 'there's no way that Tom would have a sexual and romantic orientation crisis without realising that his friends know he's not straight and that they're supportive' - keep in mind that Tom wanted to get a demoncism in spite of the fact that he's obviously very loved by his parents and has at least a few friends who believe he can make positive character progression. It's canon that the boy has a lot of self-esteem issues he needs to work through and that his family and friends can only do so much to help him if he won't help himself first. 
> 
> Also, as you've probably guessed I originally envisioned Tom's parents either being a bad mother and father or having a very complex family situation. I'm glad that's not the case in canon but I had to get creative to make the fic's original concept still work. 
> 
> Did it work? Let me know in the comments section. And I promise I will try to update more regularly.


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